A fire of similar magnitude can be in Hong Kong Hardly anyone remembers – a comparable event took place almost eighty years ago. At least 160 people died in the late November fire that destroyed seven of eight high-rise buildings in a complex called Hong Fu Yuan (or Wang Fuk Court). Between 3,000 and 4,000 people lost their homes, including many old people who had invested their savings in purchasing the apartments that had now disappeared. It is causing anger and despair in Hong Kong that residents can do little to correct the systematic failure that led to this disaster.